Marvel’s Black Panther Trailer Shows Way Too Much

A new Black Panther trailer has finally arrived, but did it give away too many details about the film? We may never really find out until we see the full film which will be out in less than four months. But given what we have, let’s try to decode just how the new preview can be spoilery for some fans.

Marvel Studios decided to drop the new Black Panther trailer without any preamble on Monday morning to the surprise and delight of fans. The roll-out was especially unexpected given that the film company is at the height of promoting their upcoming project, Thor: Ragnarokwhich will debut in just a little bit over two weeks. And while we had an inkling that it is coming real soon, thanks to a tip that it has just been classified, many were expecting for it to be tagged alongside the Thor threequel and not released separately.

Having said that, we are here graced with a new sneak peek at the Ryan Coogler-directed film that will officially launch Chadwick Boseman as the king of Wakanda, T’Challa, following his brilliant introduction in Captain America: Civil War. Clocking in at just less than two minutes, the trailer gives us a lot more context as to what the film will be all about and how this secluded and secret South African nation is at the precipice of a new era while battling outside forces that threaten their peace. But while some are happy with what they got, others are a little bit uneasy regarding the trailer having revealed way too much — especially when we can expect that a possible final trailer and some international ones are still scheduled to be released.

Marvel Studios, despite all their success, is not immune to promotional blunders. We have seen quite a few more recently with Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s (although one can argue about it being a collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment) horrendous ensemble poster which was mocked by the internet. Black Panther‘s first character poster was not well-received either, with fans citing its poor editing that made Boseman’s head look detached from his body. Interestingly, both films were also subjected to the same complaint about its trailers divulging the whole film — Homecoming with that rooftop conversation with Tony Stark and this new Black Panther showing us T’Challa’s multiple suits, Erik Kilmonger’s own costume, a snippet of possibly the final and opening fight scenes.

The only difference is that we now know that Homecoming, despite including that sequence in the trailer, still had some surprises up its sleeves and we do hope that it is the same if not more for Black Panther. At this point, there are still some narrative specifics that we are not aware of where a major plot twist can stem from. This includes the real deal with M’Baku and how his existence will factor in all of this given that he is dubbed as another villain in the film and possibly a treachery from T’Challa’s brood.

It is also important to note that Black Panther, as a property, is relatively new to a lot of people and except for the avid comic book readers, his lore is still unknown even for those who are fans of the MCU. We only really know that he was suddenly thrust into power after his father died tragically in Civil War and who knows how Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole will spin his story on the big screen. Given this, Marvel needs to sell it in a way that people are so intrigued by it prompting them to go check it on its opening weekend.